


Time.

by smoaksnacho



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), olicity - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-15 14:50:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5789500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoaksnacho/pseuds/smoaksnacho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Thea was killed, Oliver left Starling City, and along with it, leaving Felicity, and he didn't look back. He didn't keep in contact, and he didn't come back, not once. Until now. But, little does he know, how much things have changed. [Completely AU]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

_**Time doesn't love you anymore,** _

_**but I'm still knocking at your door.** _

 

It had been three years since Oliver had set foot in the place he once called home, the place he had grown up, Starling City. Three years since he had decided that he couldn't stay anymore, three years since he hung up the hood, and left, without a word. He just left, and he didn't keep in contact with anyone in the city - not even _her._

He knew there was a million reasons for him to stay, but the reasons screaming that he shouldn't overshadowed those, and he had to get out. _  
_

She had tried to convince him to stay, he still replays the conversation in his head almost everyday, even now. He remembers the tears, the way she begged, the way she held onto his hand, but he couldn't bear to stay in the place that every single person of his family had been taken away from him. _  
_

_"But I'm your family, too."_ Oliver could remember her voice, cracked and tear-filled, as clear as if it had happened three hours ago instead of three years. 

He had been to so many places, but somehow he always ended right back where he started. It was like an endless pull to the place where his life began, but the place where all of his family's had ended. 

There were so many bad memories of Starling City that he found it hard to remember the good, other than the obvious ones: meeting her, falling in love with her... Those were the highlights of his time in Starling City, and some of the highlights of his entire life. Until he went and screwed it all up by leaving. 

After Thea had been killed, he felt as if his entire world had crumbled around him. He had always managed to be strong, after his mother died, he hadn't had the time to properly grieve because he had to focus on killing Slade, but this time he had nothing to focus on because Darhk was dead, he had just taken Thea with him. 

_She_ had tried to look after him, to make him happy, and sometimes she would succeed - but the pain of loosing the only family he had left had been too much for both of them to handle. At that point, in his mind at least, it had been leave or it be the end of them both. 

At the end of the day, he supposes, it was the same outcome whatever way they looked at it. He was still gone, they still didn't talk, and he still left her to fend for herself. 

He wondered about her all the time; was she okay? Was she remembering to look after herself? Was she seeing anybody new? It wouldn't surprise him if she was, she was a wonderful and beautiful woman. She deserved someone who wouldn't hurt her the way that he did by leaving. 

What he did was unforgivable, so why was he back here, and why was he going to the one place that he knew he most likely wouldn't be welcomed, praying for her forgiveness? 

The car pulled to a halt outside of the house. She had moved after they had split, he knew that much, and he had paid someone to get him her address. He needed to see her, and she needed to be the first person he saw when he got back in town. 

"Here you go, sir." The driver, the man Oliver had gotten to know as Tomas, said, rolling down the window to shake his hand. "Good luck." 

Oliver gave the driver's hand a firm shake. "Thank you." He replied, watching as the car drove off up the street, and round the corner. 

He turned round to face the outside of the house. The exterior was beautiful; white picket fences, roses climbing up the walls, potted plants dotting randomly around. He felt a pang in his chest as he realized that they could have been living here together had he not have left. 

Oliver pushed the gate open, the gravel crunching under his weight as he took slow steps towards the front door, going over what he was going to say in his head. He pressed the doorbell, listening to the sing-song of the tune that rang through the inside of the house. 

The wind whipped his hair around, his brown leather jacket rising against the uncontrollable weather, before the door opened. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words got trapped in his throat as he took a look at her now. 

Her hair had grown considerably longer, a mass of unruly curls. She was wearing one of her bright red dresses, the color alone sending his heart into a frenzy, paired with white ballet flats.

She looked beautiful. Even more beautiful then he could remember her looking, which he wasn't entirely sure was possible. He swallowed, hard, unable to remember the words he was supposed to be speaking. 

And so she went first. 

"Oliver?" Her voice cracked as soon as she spoke the words, and she could feel her hands begin to tremble. 

"Felicity..." Oliver started, Felicity's eyes boring into him. "You look beautiful." He murmured, softly, not knowing what to say. 

"Um-Oliver-" She began, only to be interrupted mid-sentence by a small voice, and the second the word was spoken, Oliver felt his heart stop.

"Momma?" 


	2. Chapter 2

**_If we can find a way to start the chase again,_ **   
**_we might rediscover love when we circle round the bend._ **

 

Felicity turned to face the blonde, blue eyed little girl behind her, as she bent down to her height. "Baby, can you go and wait in the living room for me, please? Mommy will be in any second now, okay?" 

The little girl nodded, and Oliver felt his heart wrench at how much she was like Felicity, the blonde hair that was a mass of unruly curls, almost exactly the way Felicity had hers now, and the startlingly blue eyes to match Felicity's. 

When she had left the room, and shut the living room door, Felicity stepped into the porch, shutting the door behind her. "Oliver, there are a few, um, things you've missed. Things we need to talk about." 

"Well, the obvious one is inside of your home." Oliver smiled, sadly. "If it's... okay for me to ask, what's her name?" 

Felicity gave Oliver a small smile. "Her name's Eleanor." She replied, softly. 

He didn't reply, just stood, staring at his shoes. He couldn't help but wonder who the father was, where he was. Was he at work? Was he even still with them? Did he abandon them?

"Are you okay?" Felicity asked, her voice quiet, but the question meaningful. "I know it's a lot to take in... You should have seen my mother's face when I told her that I was having a baby. I think her reaction was more of a shock than finding out I was pregnant in the first place. I didn't think mother's were supposed to be happy that their daughter is having a baby out of wedlock." She babbled, opening her mouth to say more, before stopping. 

He couldn't begin to describe how much he had missed her babbling, the way she could find a way to make something simple sound so complicated, and then she'd feel the need to elaborate. He just missed everything about her, including the part where she had somehow gotten pregnant, and the father was nowhere to be seen. 

_You're not much better. You disappeared the second things got rough, too._ Oliver added silently inside of his head. 

"She looks like you... A lot like you, actually." He whispers. 

Felicity smiled. "Everyone says that. The poor thing." She giggles, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, shivering lightly as the wind grew stronger behind them. "God, I'm so rude. Do you want to come in? It's freezing out there." 

"Um... If you're sure." Oliver said, his voice not raising an octave. He was just simply too stunned to speak coherent sentences. She had a child. She'd been caring for a child by herself for at least longer than a year. 

"Of course!" Felicity exclaimed, as if Oliver was stupid to worry that she wouldn't have wanted to see him, at all, much less welcome him into her home. She pushed the door open, stepping inside again. 

Oliver stepped inside, looking around the hallway. A bookcase filled with softback titles, and photos of Eleanor was pushed to the corner, next to the staircase. Straight ahead was the kitchen, he could just about view the kitchen counter and the sink from his position in the hallway. The house was beautiful and so very Felicity-esque with all of her little nick-nacks dotted in random places. 

Felicity pushed the living room door open, peering her head round. "I'm back inside now baby, but my friend is with me, you can come and say hi if you'd like?" 

The door opened wider, as Felicity stepped outside, Eleanor following suit. 

"Hi! I'm Eleanor. Who are you?" She smiled, a big cheesy grin, her blonde hair was now pulled into a little ponytail. She looked adorable. 

"I'm, um, Oliver. I'm Felicity's friend." 

Eleanor grinned, even wider. "Really? Oliver's my d-" She was cut off mid-sentence, as Felicity gave her a 'don't say anything more' glare. She shut her mouth. "I'm going to go and play some more now. Come and say goodbye before you leaving, please?" 

Oliver nodded. "Of course." He smiled, softly, as the little girl stepped back inside the living room, and Felicity turned back to face Oliver. "She's adorable." 

Felicity nodded in agreeance. "Do you want a drink? Cold? Hot? Can I get you anything at all?" 

Oliver pondered on the question before shaking his head. "I'm okay, thanks." 

Everything felt awkward, as Felicity beckoned him into the kitchen, where she started to pour herself a drink. He didn't know what to say, and clearly neither did she by the terribly awkward silence filling the room. 

"So..." Felicity began, at the same time as Oliver said.

"So, how old is Eleanor?" 

Felicity laughed, lightly, before swallowing harder than she probably should be. She spoke with a quiver in her voice. This was the question that she had been dreaded being asked; the question that would reveal all. "She's two months shy of being two and a half." 

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed as he added the dates up in his head. "But that would mean... Unless... Were you..." He realized that he was talking in sentence fragments, something he knew she loved calling him out on, especially when he did it around her. But this time she didn't call him out on it, just wrapped her arms around herself protectively, almost as if she was scared. 

Her eyes didn't dare leave the floor.

"I wasn't cheating on you." Felicity whispered. "I was pregnant when you left. You're Eleanor's dad." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY. WOW. I was NOT expecting that kind of reaction from anyone. At all. Over 100 kudos' and LOADS of comments - that's immense! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!   
> I'm honestly such a nervous writer, and I posted this just as a spur of the moment posting thing, I didn't ask anyone about it, just did it out of the blue (otherwise I knew I'd talk myself out of it) so I'm so so pleased to find that so many people are enjoying it!  
> I'll be updating every day or so until the fic is finished, as because of school etc, I find it hard to find time to write, so I write the chapters in advanced, and I have such a terrible memory I'm bound to forget I've written them, and then loose interest in posting new chapters... Which I don't want to happen. I'm determined to finish this fic!   
> Thank you so much for all your kindness, it means the world.   
> Phee x


	3. Chapter 3

 

__**All I remember brings me back to you and all those little things**  
I'm not anything without you   


The words rang in Oliver's ears as if he was underwater. It felt like he was drowning, as if he was being suffocated by these emotions that he had no idea how to react to them. 

He had done it before, he was well aware of that, he had found out he had a son three and a half years ago, but this was different. He had been lied to about William's existence from the start.

This time, by all means, he had abandoned Felicity while she was pregnant. How was he supposed to react correctly to being told that, let alone that he was a father to a two and a half year old little girl, a little girl that was sat in a room only five steps away from where he was? 

"I know that it's probably a lot to take in." Felicity whispered, clasping her hands together to hide the fact that they were shaking. 

She had never expected to have to tell him about Eleanor. She had always thought he would never come back, that he'd just leave and move on and never come back to her, and now that he had come back and she had had to face the music, she was terrified of what is reaction would be.

"I, um... I get it if you want to leave again." Felicity's voice was slightly louder than before, but the quiver in it gave away how scared she was. "I can't imagine how confused you must feel right now." 

_But please don't leave again._ Felicity added silently in her head. 

Oliver's eyes snapped up to meet Felicity's. "Why didn't you get in contact with me sooner?" He whispered. "I would have come back." 

"I tried, but if you don't remember, you went off the grid. I tried ringing your phone, I tried hacking into airports to find out where you could have possibly have gone - it wasn't exactly as if I'd planned on doing this alone, Oliver!" Felicity snapped, banging her glass on the kitchen counter. 

She could feel all the emotions she'd repressed for years bubbling up to the surface, and she could feel the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She wouldn't cry. She couldn't cry. She had to be strong, if not for herself then for Eleanor. She knew she was only in the room next door, if she heard shouting, if she saw Felicity crying, she'd get upset too. 

"I know that loosing Thea was one of the worst things you've ever had to go through, Oliver, I get that. I do. I can't imagine how painful it must have been." Felicity whispered. 

Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose, staying silent. He didn't know what to say. Finding out he was a father, let alone a father a second time round, really had a way of messing with your head apparently. 

"But, I was going through a lot too." Felicity said, softly. Her finger was twirling her hair around her finger, letting it go, before twirling it around again. It had become her thing to do when she was nervous. "I didn't know I was pregnant when you left. I'd noticed the signs, I knew I was late, but I didn't care. I was sat there stuck in a pit of nothing-ness. I wallowed, I cried, and I think I probably ate my weight in mint chip ice cream every week." 

"Digg was the one that noticed what I was going through, what symptoms I was having, they couldn't be experienced by your fiance leaving you. He took me to the doctors, he held my hand and he came to my first sonogram with me. He even insisted on having a picture to stick on his fridge." 

Oliver could feel his heart rising up into his throat. That should have been him doing all of those things. He should have been the one holding her hand, loving her, going to sonograms with her, holding her when she got scared or when her hormones got too much, when she was doubting herself. But instead, he was off wallowing in a pit of guilt, leaving his unknowingly pregnant fiancee. The guilt was overwhelming him. 

"Lyla was amazing too, you know? She came to birthing classes with me. And she was with me when Eleanor kicked for the first time and-" 

Oliver cut her off before she could say anymore, his voice almost a yell. " **FELICITY!** Can you... stop telling me all the things I missed out on, please?"

Felicity knew that he probably didn't mean the words he was saying. She knew that this was typical Oliver, and she didn't expect his reaction to be good. Nobody's reaction to finding out you'd missed years, plus the entire development, of your child's life was going to be good, but she didn't expect this. She'd thought he'd have at least wanted to know she hadn't been going through all of this alone. 

"Oh." That was all she could manage. A simple, quiet, heartbroken, 'oh'. 

Oliver ran his hand through his hair, which had grown a lot since she had seen him last, Felicity noted. What did she expect, though, for it to be the same length three years later? 

"I need to go." Oliver mumbled. 

Felicity opened her mouth to say something, but he had turned and was darting down the hall before she could. "Oliver, wait-" 

"I can't, Felicity. Not now." Oliver said, and when he looked up at her, she could see the tears dancing in his blue eyes. "Say goodbye to Eleanor for me." He said, softly, his voice cracking, before he turned and walked out. 

Felicity shut the door, a harsh sob tearing her apart as she leant against the door, her legs like jelly over what had just happened. She felt like her heart had been stomped on sixty times over. 

The living room door opening jolted Felicity's attention. Sometimes she forgot, even after over two years, that there was another human being with her at almost all times - other than when Digg and Lyla took Eleanor off of her hands so she could rest. 

"Mommy?" Eleanor said, quietly. "You crying?" 

Felicity broke out into a smile. She was so young, yet so perceptive. "I'm fine, baby, I promise." 

"Need a hug?" She grinned, holding open her arms, as if to gesture to Felicity that she needed to pick her up. 

Felicity swept the little girl with the mass of blonde hair to match her own up into her arms with a big hug. "I always need a hug from you, little one."

 

* * *

When Oliver got outside, he realised that he had nowhere to go. He had sent Tomas home, and he hadn't even considered the fact that he might need a ride back to where he was currently situated (which, at the moment, was a tiny apartment in upstate Manhattan - but it changed all the time). 

In fact, he hadn't even really gotten past the point, while he was planning this whole return trip home, of seeing Felicity, and praying she didn't turn him away at the door. 

Which she hadn't. It had just turned out to be a lot worse. Or was it better? He wasn't sure anymore. He was a dad. But he was a dad to a child that had no idea who he was, where had been for the first two and a half years of her life, and a dad that had abandoned his child while she was still, even though it was unknowingly, growing inside of Felicity. Feeling guilty was an understatement. 

The wind was blowing up a storm, and it was freezing outside, but he put the hood of his jacket up over his head, sheltering at least one part of his body from the unbearable cold, and started walking. 

He could probably use the air anyway. He had a lot of things to think over. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOOD GARDEN SEEDS. I didn't expect that much of a reaction from the last chapter, holy cow. This is immense, thank you guys so much!   
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter (and you guys aren't too mad at Oliver...), I had a discussion with my friend (shout out to you Meg, you're the real MVP for putting up with my endless babble) about whether the way I wanted him to react would be out of character, and we both agreed that it wasn't, so I hope I wrote it as well as humanly possible.  
> If there is any mistakes, feel free to point them out to me, I usually write these chapters between 1.30-4am, because that's when inspiration strikes me the most and I don't have a beta to point these things out for me, so feel free if you see any mistakes, even little ones, to point them out. I don't bite haha.  
> Thank you so much for all the love on this fic, it means so much to me.   
> Phee x


	4. Chapter 4

  
**_Now I feel the aftermath of a fragile cracked love that all but fell apart,_ **   
**_Like gravel to skin, the hurt has set in,_ **   
**_And all that's left of my heart are pieces and parts._ **

 

  
When Oliver had reached a hotel, after walking a good few miles, he had just slept, and he had slept most of the day after that - so much he didn't have much time to dwell on the information he had been told. 

But now it had been three days since Felicity had told him about Eleanor being his, and since his reaction had driven him out of the door, and all he felt was guilty. 

How could he have done that to her? He did the exact same thing he promised he'd never do again. He left, once more, but this time he knowingly left two people. He didn't know what was wrong with him, this was the life most people would kill to have. 

To be a father, to be in love with the mother of his children, most people would love it. But all Oliver felt was overwhelming, drowning guilt for his actions. 

So, now, here he was. He was stood outside of John Diggle's house, the only person he knew that would give him the honest and the person that wouldn't be afraid to slap him for his stupidity - which was something even he felt he needed. He had royally screwed up, and he was well aware of it. 

The door opened slightly, and Oliver glimpsed Diggle's tall form, but his back was to the outside. And then he turned around, and the second he saw Oliver, his face fell into a scowl.

  
"Oliver? What are you doing here?" Diggle asked, and Oliver knew straight away that he was angry at him. In fact, angry might have been an understatement from the tone of his voice and the look on his face - he was livid. 

Oliver shoved his hands into his pockets to fight off the cold that had grown even more over the past few days. "I'm back in town, for a little while. I'm not sure how long. I needed to talk to you about some things." 

"Things like you walked out on Felicity after she told you that Eleanor is yours? Yeah, she called me, crying, and told me all of it." Diggle snapped. 

Oliver's throat felt thick. She had called Diggle, crying. Because of him. He had been responsible for too many of her tears, he had realised that now. 

Diggle looked at Oliver's face, the guilt etched over his face like a perfectly drawn sketch, and he couldn't leave him outside much longer. It was obvious how desperate he was. "Come in." He sighed, stepping backwards carefully. 

Oliver stepped inside, looking around the house that he hadn't seen in so many years. It was neat, and tidy, aside from a few scatterings of kids toys here and there. "How are you?" Oliver asked, as Diggle led him through the hallway and into the kitchen. He was obviously stalling the conversation (or more, the yelling) that was to come.

"I'm good, man." Diggle said, trying his best to be as friendly as possible, despite how mad he's is. "I'm now a father of three beautiful kids." Diggle smiled, proudly. 

Oliver's eyes widened. "Three? Congratulations, man. Obviously, I know Sara, but what are the others names?"

"Elijah, and the other we haven't quite decided, she's not quite here yet." Diggle laughed. "We know it's a girl, and we decided on the middle name, but the first name is still a mystery." 

Oliver smiled, as Diggle handed him a glass of water. "Thank you." He spoke, his voice suddenly quiet. He, out of the blue, felt intensely awkward. It was as if, somewhere between the three years, they had run out of things to talk about. "Have I missed much?" 

More stalling. He couldn't face the conversation. 

"A lot, actually." Diggle replied, curtly. "Starling's crime rates has been down a lot since Darhk died. Laurel moved out of town, I think she's in Spain, or somewhere. She sends postcards every six months. Donna and Lance are still going strong, they got married in Spring." 

Diggle paused, pondering what to say next. 

"And then there's Felicity." Diggle said, softly. "I always knew she was strong, but she's a lot stronger than I ever anticipated. She did everything alone, Oliver. Raising Eleanor, making sure she took care of herself. Sure, I was there for the appointments and the bigger things, but she did the little things." 

"It wasn't easy for her, far from it, actually. She missed you a lot more than she would admit to anyone other than me. After she first found out she was pregnant, she was really bad. She wouldn't stop crying, she didn't want to eat, sleep, she didn't want to do anything. She told me that sometimes she'd dream that you came back, as if you knew she needed you. But you never did." 

Oliver swallowed. Hard. His heart was crawling up into his throat, and he could feel tears wanting to spill out of his eyes. He couldn't cry. He wouldn't allow himself to cry. 

"But now you're back here, and you're acting like a complete dick. Why is that, Oliver? Do you find pleasure in hurting her?" Diggle said, his voice raising an octave. 

Oliver shook his head. "It's the exact opposite, Digg. I worry that by staying I'm going to hurt her." He whispered. 

"That is a cop-out answer, Oliver. You were happy. Happier than I'd ever seen you. I know Thea died must have hurt like a stab to the chest, but there are better ways of dealing with it than leaving. Grief counselors, talking, crying. Instead, you did the childish thing, you made a mess and then you left Felicity to clear it all up." 

" **Don't you think I know that, Digg?** " Oliver shouted. "I thought about her every single day I was gone, I wondered how she was, whether she was okay. If I had known she was pregnant, if I had found out before three days ago that I had a daughter, I would have come back. No questions asked."

"Well, maybe you should have thought about that before you completely dropped off the border." Diggle retorted. "It's good to have you back, Oliver, but my wife and children are going to be getting home any minute now, and I'd rather you weren't here."

"Yeah. Okay..." Oliver whispered. "Nice to see you, Digg." 

He turned around, showing himself out. He could feel his chest heaving, like he was about to suddenly burst into a fit of tears. He shut the door behind him, tears burning his eyes, before he turned around and drove his fist into the wall. 

The pain shot up his arm and into his shoulder, but he didn't care. He deserved that pain after what he had put Felicity through. How could she even look at him, invite him into her home, after what he had done to her, after all the pain he had put her through?

Oliver choked back a sob, as he walked away from Diggle's house, refusing to allow himself to break down.  

And he continued to walk, and he didn't know where he was going to end up. Until he ended up _there_. 

* * *

 

Eleanor had just settled down for her afternoon nap, and Felicity was exhausted. Sunday afternoon's were always the hardest for her, because Eleanor always had boundless energy and never wanted to settle down, but she had finally worn herself out, and with that, worn Felicity out too. 

Felicity pulled her array of curls, the curls that she hadn't had time to straighten in days, up into a high pony tail, the end of her hair tickling the nape of her neck, as she entered the kitchen, ready to clean up the mess that Eleanor and her had made finger painting. 

She had packed away the paint, and the brushes, and was about to start wiping down the table and kitchen surfaces when the doorbell ding-donged thrice, making Felicity jump. She wasn't expecting anybody to come by, was she? Had she really been that preoccupied that she'd forgotten she'd made plans? 

Felicity sighed, walking over to the door, pulling it open to see a tear-stained Oliver Queen, his hand mashed and bloodied. Her breath caught in her throat. "Oh, god, Oliver." She whispered, beckoning him inside. "What happened?"

"How can you even look at me?" He asked. "I hurt you, so much. I did something unforgivable, but yet you're letting me inside your home. Why?"

"Because, even though, yeah, you hurt me, and yeah, I resented you for it for a nine whole months - when I met Eleanor... I couldn't harbour any bad feelings towards you anymore. You'd given me one of the greatest things. I was thankful - am thankful." She stared into his eyes, the welling tears only growing more so. 

There was a brief moment of silence exchanged between the two of them, not awkward, not angered, just pure silence. 

Until Felicity grabbed Oliver's injured hand, watching as he winced, gulping down the pain that ravaged his body. "Now, what the hell did you do, Oliver Queen? Explanation. Now." 

"I punched a wall." He mumbled, Felicity's face contorting with anger, demanding an explanation without the words. "I went to see Digg. I got mad, at myself, not him... When I left, I punched the wall."

"Oliver..." She whispered. "Come on, let's get you patched up, okay?" She said, her voice soft and loving, as she trailed ahead to the kitchen, grabbing the first aid kit out of the kitchen cabinet. 

She grabbed the antibacterial, and the bandages, shutting the kit down again, turning to face Oliver who had suddenly appeared next to her. 

"Can you tell me about her? About Eleanor?" Oliver asked, looking up at Felicity. He suddenly looked so young, almost childlike.  "I want to know... I know my original reaction wasn't the best but... I have to know more about her." 

Felicity nodded, as she started to clean his hand, trying not to focus on how much Oliver was wincing - he had done some serious damage. She would be surprised if it wasn't broken, but she didn't press the issue. "Well, her full name's Eleanor Thea Queen." 

"Thea?" Oliver asked, tears welling up in his eyes again. "You named her after my sister... And, you kept my last name. Why?" 

Felicity laughed, halfheartedly. "I didn't not tell her about you, Oliver. She knows stories about you, she knows your name... She just doesn't know who you are. She knows you got sad, and you had to go." 

Felicity finished bandaging Oliver's hand, and only then did she hear the sniffling. He was crying, and she could feel her heart breaking. 

"I'm so sorry, Felicity. I'm so sorry for hurting you." 

"Hey, hey... It's okay." She murmured, softly. 

He shook his head, in disagreeance. It wasn't okay. He didn't see how it would ever be okay after what he had put her through. 

She wrapped her arms around him, as more tears fell down his cheeks, and she felt her heart rate quicken. It had been a long time since she had felt the familiarity of his embrace, and the familiar scent that hadn't changed, not one bit. 

"I want to do it." Oliver sighed, his voice cracked. 

Felicity looked up into his eyes, not removing her arms from him. She didn't want to let him go, she was too afraid that if she did, he'd go again. "Do what?" 

"I want to be here. I want to be Eleanor's dad... If you'll let me." 

Felicity nodded. "Okay. Yeah."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOAH. I hate to sound like a broken record, but the amount of love and support for this fic has absolutely blown me away, I am in shock by the beautiful reviews (let alone the amount of them I am getting!) I am receiving every night, it means so so much to me.   
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter (and I hope you aren't too mad at Felicity for letting him back in so easily. She's empathetic, probably too empathetic. I wanted that to show.)   
> Once again, thank you all again - see ya'll tomorrow!  
> Phee x


	5. Chapter 5

**_Whatever your name is, whatever you do,_ **   
**_There's nothing between us I'm willing to loose._ **

 

It had been almost two weeks since Felicity had agreed to Oliver being a part of her's and Eleanor's life again, under the conditions that he didn't screw up again, and they still hadn't worked out a way to explain to her that her dad had suddenly reappeared after two and a half years. 

Oliver, of course, had suggested they just play it off as he's just Felicity's friend for a while, until they came up with a good excuse for him being gone for so long, but she had instantly dismissed that. Eleanor was way too perceptive and smart, she'd see right through any excuse, let alone one of Oliver's god awful ones. 

"I think we should tell her. Today." Felicity sighed, down the phone. "She's catching on, anyway. Her question's about her dad have been heightened ever since you got back in town, and I think she already has her hunches." 

"Seriously? So soon?" Oliver's eyes widened, as he made the bed in his hotel room, before pouring himself a cup of coffee. "I know it's been almost two weeks, but I don't want to be a disappointment to her." 

"You're not going to be a disappointment to her, Oliver." Felicity laughed, halfheartedly. "She's been waiting for you to come back for her entire life, the world's ugliest man with the most disgusting heart couldn't even disappoint her - which you're not, you're not ugly in the slightest, you're actually pretty beautiful and you have one of the biggest hearts in the world-" Felicity slammed her jaw shut, trying to force herself to be quiet. 

Oliver chuckled, lowly, down the phone sending an enormous amount of chills down her spine, and she swallowed hard.

These past two weeks had been difficult, she'd been sneaking around her daughter (and Digg and Lyla, who if they knew she'd let Oliver back in so easily, would think she was absolutely crazy. She probably was). They had been terrifying, and confusing - especially with how the relationship between her and Oliver had suddenly escalated so quickly - but she had pushed through it. She had too - if not for her sake, then for Eleanor's. As soon as they could work out how to tell her. 

He had bolted, but not because she had a baby. Because he was in pain, and even Felicity wasn't enough to help soothe it this time. 

"I'm looking at houses... Here. In Starling." Oliver's voice brought Felicity out of her reverie. "I thought, if I'm going to be a part of Eleanor's life, I have to be back here. So, I decided I'd move back. I can't stay in a hotel forever - they're already trying to kick me out for being here two weeks." 

"Well, if you need to stay anywhere, I have a spare room. Or a couch. But the spare room might be comfier - given that it has a bed." Felicity laughed, before nodding, forgetting he couldn't see her. "But, I agree. If you're going to be a part of El's life, you're gonna need stability. She's gonna wanna see where her daddy lives." 

Why did she just offer him somewhere to stay? In her house no less? Dammit. She knew herself she wasn't ready for this - why did she have to be so freaking empathetic? 

Oliver's heart stopped as soon as Felicity referred to him as Eleanor's 'daddy', it was the first time he had ever been referred to anything like that, and it was nice. It made him feel like he had some value, some importance, like he was something special to someone. 

"I've looked at three potential homes so far, they're all really nice. In my price range, three bedroom... They're all nice." Oliver spoke, softly. "And they're in your neighborhood. If you don't want me living in your neighborhood, that's completely fine, I'd understand. I wouldn't wanna impose, Felicity."

"No, no-" Felicity could feel tears brimming in her eyes. Why did such a small gesture mean so much to her? "I just didn't think you'd want to live so close to me." 

Things felt different between them. Things, other than the inevitable anger/frustration at him that she had harbored the first time week after he had been back, at first had just been kind, friendly behavior. But suddenly, this past few days, things had... escalated. She suddenly felt her heart picking up speed whenever he laughed, or whenever he looked at her in a certain way, and that terrified her. 

"Why wouldn't I?" Oliver laughed. "I've spent three years away from you. You're going to find it hard to shake me now." 

Felicity's heart swelled with the words. She wasn't sure she ever would want to shake him, no matter how much he could and had hurt her... He was a disease she'd quite happily have forever. "Are you actually going to come round, today? Digg and Lyla took Eleanor out to give me a break, so you can come round and brainstorm how we're going to tell our kid about you." 

Oliver rolled his eyes, pulling the phone away from his ear. "I'll be there in a minute." 

* * *

 

Oliver had been there two hours, and they still weren't entirely sure how to tell Eleanor about him, but they didn't have long to figure out. Because Digg's car was outside. 

"Shoot!" Felicity whisper-screeched. "You're gonna have to... hide behind the door, or something. Digg doesn't know that you're still in town, let alone that you're a part of mine and Eleanor's life. He's harboring some bad feelings and- what?" Felicity stopped babbling, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as Oliver started to laugh. 

"Calm down. I'll hide. First... How are we going to do this?" Oliver asked, as he stood up, bracing himself for the hiding and the explanation that was to come. 

Felicity bit down on her lip, chewing through the skin nervously. "Just... Blurt it. That's what I did with my mom when I told her I was pregnant. And she's two and a half, what can she do other than throw a paddy, right? Right?"

"Right." Oliver confirmed, taking her hand that was shaking like a leaf. "Breathe. She's not going to hate you - if anything she's going to hate me for being gone for so long, okay? Deep breaths." 

How was it always like Oliver was in her head? He needed to get out of there. It was making her even more confused than she already was. He was psychic, she was sure of it. She had been scared that Eleanor would hate her when she inevitably had to tell her about Oliver, so she had been putting it off for as long as possible - but she knew she couldn't anymore.  

The door bell pinged, and Felicity quietly squeaked, ushering Oliver behind the door, his broad shoulders barely being hidden by the door. 

Felicity squeezed her eyes tightly shut, taking deep, slow breaths trying to calm herself down, before she stepped into the hall, shutting the living area door before throwing open the front door, Eleanor instantly flinging herself into her arms. 

"Mommy, mommy, mommy!" She squealed, burying her head in the crook of Felicity's neck as Felicity's arms wrapped around her. 

"Baby, did you have a nice time?" Felicity cooed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, glancing up to see Digg smiling at her. "Thanks for taking her off my hands for a few hours, Digg."

"Any time. She's an angel in comparison to my two." Digg laughed. "I'll pop by again at some point soon with Lyla, if that's okay? Cup of tea and biscuits? I know she'd love to see you again before baby number three." 

"Sounds good." Felicity grinned. "Bye, Digg. Wave to Uncle Diggle." She encouraged Eleanor to wave her hand about to Diggle as he walked away, shutting the door behind her.

Felicity gently set Eleanor down on her own two feet, her back aching from holding her. "I have someone in the living room who really wants to see you, y'know?" Felicity smiled, ruffling her daughter's hair. 

Eleanor clapped excitedly, as Felicity opened the door, watching as her little girl wandered inside, Felicity following suit. 

"Okay... Baby, we have to explain some things." Felicity whispered, bending down to her height as she looked confusedly at Oliver, who had emerged from behind the door, as if to say, _what is he doing here?_ "When your daddy left, he was really sad-"

"Yeah, because of Auntie Thea." Eleanor nodded. She was so wise beyond her years, it made Felicity's heart twist. "Why?"

"Well... He came back... Oliver, he-he's your daddy." Felicity's eyes were trained on Eleanor's face, the little girl looking between Oliver and Felicity, before she ran into Oliver's arms. 

"Daddy!" She squealed, throwing her arms around Oliver's neck, and Oliver instantly had tears glistening his eyes, running down his cheeks, and Felicity felt so much love filling her heart for the two people in her living room. "Daddy, daddy, daddy." Eleanor spoke over and over, almost as if she was testing out the feel of the word. 

"I'm gonna let you two have some time, yeah?" Felicity smiled, biting back a laugh at the scared-yet-emotional-yet-happy expression etched on Oliver's face. _'You'll be fine. Talk about princesses.'_ She mouthed, before she exited the living room. 

Eleanor started to squirm in Oliver's arms, so he set her down on her two feet gently, so scared he was going to break her. "Daddy." She smiled. 

"Baby." Oliver whispered, feeling his throat clog up with tears. "I'm so sorry I've been gone for so long."

"Mommy explained it to me. She said that my daddy got really sad after my Auntie Thea had to leave, and even she couldn't help how sad you felt, so you left too. Have you been with Auntie Thea?" Eleanor inquired, putting her tiny hand in Oliver's much, much larger one. 

Oliver shook his head, his heart twisting at Eleanor's words. "No... No, I haven't. Auntie Thea's gone somewhere a lot farther away than any of us can reach for a long time. But, I promise I'm not going anywhere... Not again." 

"Pinkie promise?" Eleanor grinned, extending her pinkie to Oliver. 

Oliver couldn't help but break out in a huge smile, wrapping his pinkie around hers. "Pinkie promise." 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. Here we go. This chapter (and the one following this one) have been two of my all time favourites to write. Stuff happens - and we're SO close to the ending (three more chapters left and the epilogue!).  
> I hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 

**_I'm ready to forgive you but forgetting is a harder fight_ **   
**_Little do you know_ **   
**_I need a little more time_ **

 

Another couple of weeks passed, and they were some of the happiest week's of Oliver's entire life. He had moved into a house the street opposite from Felicity's, he was job-hunting, and he had gotten to know his daughter in so many ways that he felt as if he had never been gone.

It was one of the happiest he could ever remember himself feeling - it was a feeling of pure and utter bliss, a feeling he didn't ever want to let slip away from him - and he couldn't imagine anything could make that feeling slip away from him.

Until something did.

Felicity had started pulling away again, and in turn, so had Eleanor. The visits grew shorter, and the excuses got worse - the first time it was that both she and Eleanor had a cold and they didn't want to risk giving Oliver anything while he was moving into the new house/job  searching, which he had accepted and moved on from. 

But the days, the full days until Eleanor had to go to bed and sometimes beyond that, grew shorter until suddenly the visits were only lasting two hours at a time - and Oliver was starting to grow worried.

Had he done something wrong, something to upset them? He had been trying his hardest to be the happiest, kindest man he could muster up, and he had been the happiest he'd ever been - but clearly they weren't - and that broke his heart.

Oliver missed them. He didn't realize how quickly he could get attached to people again, but he had, and being without them again, the sudden lack of contact and the fact that Felicity was starting to refuse to answer his calls and refusing to call him back at the same time, made him feel as though he was falling back into that deep pit of darkness that he had worked three years to try and pull himself out of.

Felicity knew she was being completely irrational with how she felt, but suddenly all the doubts crept into her mind and they just wouldn't shake, no matter how hard she scolded herself, telling herself that she was being ridiculous, that the way she felt, all her worries weren't true, no matter if they did come true in the future.

But it didn't help. The doubt, the fear, the worry would always come creeping right back into her mind, shaking her to her very core, and no matter how hard she would try to push it down, it wouldn't leave her alone.

She was in a constant state of fear that Oliver would decide that this, being a family man, being a father, wasn't what he wanted. She was constantly scared that he would decide he had a better life wherever the hell he was when he had left, and leave again, or worse, he would pull a 'her father' on her, and just leave in the dead of the night, never to be seen again.

She had tried to put up pretenses for Eleanor's sake, but somewhere between the last six days, her anxiety had just gotten way too much for her and she had fallen off the wagon. Her emotions were consistently getting the better of her, out of the blue, and she had no idea what had triggered it - but she had to force it down, for Eleanor's sake.

The worst thing is, Felicity knew that Eleanor had cottoned onto the fact that Felicity was scared, despite how hard she had tried to hide it, Felicity was sure of it - that damn child and how smart she was to her mother's feelings, the fact that Oliver hadn't been coming round as much, or when he did it was for only brief periods of time, was a sure sign. She missed her daddy, as she had vocally expressed, but Felicity couldn't face it.

She couldn't face seeing his face for more than a couple of hours at a time and know what she did: that she was falling for him all over again, but that she was still so scared of what he could do and what he _might_ do, that he might tear her apart all over again and this time she wasn't sure that if he did, she'd be able to pick herself back up again. 

"Pull yourself together." Felicity whispered to herself in the mirror as she spotted the tremble in her hands, something she had become accustomed to noticing before Oliver was supposed to come round, or she was supposed to go to him with Eleanor.

It was ridiculous. She shouldn't elicit this kind of reaction whenever she had to see him. And the worse thing is, was that she couldn't identify if it was fear, anger, or just the fact that she couldn't stand being without him in that sense for much longer that was causing the shakes. She often opted for all of the above, in her head when she was trying to rationalize things.

The doorbell pinged, making Felicity jump as it brought her out of her reverie. She had managed to calm the trembles to a mere little twitch, but she was aware of how jumpy she felt.

She gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror, sucking in a few deep, shaky breaths before she turned and started down the stairs to where Eleanor was waiting at the bottom of them, waiting for her daddy to be let inside.

Felicity pulled the door open, Oliver's soft, smiling face sending her heart flying into an unbearably fast rate.

His eyes looked her up and down. "You look beautiful."

She could feel her cheeks turning a light shade of pink, as she choked down her word vomit, nibbling on her lower lip nervously. "Thank you- um, you look handsome?" Felicity said, in more of a question than anything.

Oliver laughed, halfheartedly, before the room fell into silence - even from Eleanor's side. The tension in the room was palpable, and it was making everyone feel on edge.

Eleanor flung herself into Oliver's arm with a loud squeal, breaking the intense silence, and making Felicity feel as if she could finally breathe again. "Daddy!"

"Oh, how I've missed you!" Oliver exclaimed, pressing a gentle kiss to Eleanor's head, bouncing her up and down on his hip, causing light squeals of laughter from the two year old. "How has it only been twenty four hours without seeing you? It feels like so much longer!" 

Eleanor nodded, agreeing. "Missed you too." She replied, flashing Oliver a million-dollar smile, making his heart swell with so much love and adoration for the strength someone so young had. "How's daddy?" 

"I'm good, little lady. How are you?" Oliver smiled. He would never get over being called daddy. It still felt alien to his ears, but he loved it all the same.

Eleanor held up two thumbs, grinning even wider.

"That's what I like to hear!" Oliver exclaimed as he set Eleanor back down on her feet, his eyes instantly landing on Felicity - and he instantly took in the way that she was standing. She was completely rigid, her hands were balled into two fists and she was shaking like crazy.

What was going on?

"Hey, baby," Oliver crouched down to Eleanor's height, "do you think you could give mommy and me a moment? We'll both be in in a minute. We can play with your dolls if you like?" 

Eleanor nodded excitedly, before she bounded into the living room, shutting the door behind her. Oliver smiled once more at the prospect of playing dolls with his own daughter, the idea alone was crazy to him, but then his eyes fell on Felicity - who's shaking had grown more intense by the second.

He stepped towards her, his hand brushing against her arm, but she jumped back, tears streaking down her cheeks. "Hey, hey... What's the matter? What's going on?"

Felicity sniffed. "Everything's the matter, Oliver... You leave, then you come back, then you leave, then you come back again. I'm just... I'm waiting for you to leave again. I'm constantly afraid that one day, we're gonna arrange to meet and you're never gonna show up - and then Eleanor's going to be crushed - and... and so am I..."

"Felicity, I wouldn't-" 

She interrupted him immediately before he could even finish that sentence. "Oliver, you don't understand!" She exclaimed, louder than she should have. She dropped her voice to a whisper, cautious of the two year old in the room next door. "My entire life, I've never felt good enough. That people were leaving because of who I am, and what my actions are, like everything I did was never going to be enough for people." 

"And when my dad left... I never recovered from it, it made trusting and loving so much harder for me - and I let you in and you left too. I just... I don't want the same for Eleanor - I couldn't stand it if she had to go through the same thing that I had to go through, Oliver, I just couldn't."

Oliver shook his head, taking Felicity's hand in his, and this time she didn't flinch or pull away from him. "Felicity. I'm not going to hurt you, not again, not ever. I promise you that much."

More tears streaked down his cheeks. "You can't promise that Oliver-"

"Felicity." Oliver breathed out, interrupting her sentence, as their bodies fell lax against the wall behind him, their lips intertwining for the first time in three years.

And it felt as if he had never been gone in the first place, that they had never been without each other's kisses. Not for one single moment in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO IT HAPPENED. IT FINALLY HAPPENED.  
> I know the time skips have been happening every chapter or so, but I wanted to speed the timeline up so when I did make something happen between them it wouldn't seem rushed. Going by the point of this timeline, it's been about two months since he came back in town - so I like to think it was soon enough.  
> It's strange to think there's so little left to write of this, I am honestly so excited to finish it but also so happy that I've had this opportunity and the inspiration to write it. You guys make it so joyous, thank you.  
> I hope you guys enjoyed reading, it means so much to me that you took the time to read my writing.  
> Happy Arrow Day everyone!  
> Phee x


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly? This chapter took on a whole life of it's own, but I loved writing it so much. Only two more chapters and the epilogue left now, guys. Whoa.   
> Thank you guys so much for reading, I hope you all enjoy!  
> Phee x

 

_**It's the end of the world,** _   
_**And you've come back to me,** _   
_**In my dreams.** _

 

  
Felicity had expected things to be awkward between her and Oliver after they had kissed, the first kiss in three whole years, but they weren't. After they had kissed, they had both gone into the living room, played with Eleanor, and then he left. 

He had given her a light kiss on the cheek before he went, and had texted her as per usual before he went to sleep - and this time she didn't ignore it out of fear. She had replied, almost instantly. 

Oliver, Eleanor and Felicity were all scheduled to go out furniture shopping together today for Oliver's house which was still, pretty much, empty apart from a couch, a fridge, a bed and the bathroom things that were pre-installed before the move in - he desperately needed some sort of personality to the place he would now get used to calling his home. 

So, there she was, getting ready. She wasn't sure what to wear - was one of her favorite dresses too much for going shopping, or should she really care? Was she just overanalyzing things? She was never one to dress for a man, but she was nervous. This wasn't just any man, this was Oliver, _her Oliver_. 

She finally decided on just a simple pair of jeans and a light burgundy jumper - one of her favorites. 

Her phone buzzed, sending a unearthly noise over the wooden chest of drawers, making Felicity shiver, and her nostrils flare in disgust. She needed to remember to not put her phone on there in case that noise was made. Or just turn her phone onto permanent silence. 

The phone stopped it's persistent buzzing - Oliver could simply wait for her to reply - and Felicity turned back to her mirror, applying the deep shade of plum on her lips, before the buzzing started up again. 

Her eyebrows furrowed. It was unlike Oliver to text her twice in a row if she didn't reply within seconds. Felicity stepped over to her phone, picking it up, and inspecting the number that glared up on her screen. 

It wasn't a text - it was a phone call. And it was a phone call from the hospital. Her heart rate quickened as she slid her finger across the screen, pulling the phone up to her ear, letting out a shaky breath. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Ms. Felicity Smoak?" The receptionist spoke on the other end of the phone, her voice crisp, but the background noise of the hospital filling the line so that her voice was quiet. 

Felicity swallowed, her throat thick, and her palms clammy. She was scared. What had happened? "Yes, this is she. What can I help you with?" 

"You're listed as Mr. Oliver Queen's emergency contact. He's just been brought in to the hospital, he's been in a car accident. It isn't my place to divulge anything more, but the doctors are urging you to get to the hospital as quick as possible so they can fill you in on what has happened." The receptionist continued. 

Felicity could feel herself already beginning to panic, but she swallowed it down, taking deep, shaky breaths, her chest aching. "Okay. Thank you." She pressed the end call button, before she immediately dialled Digg's number. There was no way in Google that she was going to tell her two and a half year old daughter that her dad was in the hospital. 

Digg answered on the fourth ring. "Hey, Felicity, you okay?" 

Felicity felt a sob choking her voice as she tried to speak. "It's a really long story, and I haven't got much time - I just, I need you right now - I can't, I don't-"

"Calm down, explain to me what's going on. If it's a long story, explain the short version." Digg encouraged, as she tried to calm herself down. 

Felicity nodded, forgetting that he couldn't see her. "Okay, okay... Short story: Oliver has been involved in mine and Eleanor's life for almost a month now, and before you yell, he's been an amazing father, and an amazing person - friend - I don't really know what we are right now, but he's been in a car accident and I'm classed as his next of kin, so they're urging me to get to the hospital but I can't take Eleanor. Do you think you can watch her?" She let out a ghastly sob, rocking herself back and forth. 

"Of course. Of course. I'll be there in a minute. Take a deep breath - both Oliver and Eleanor are going to need you to be strong right now. And he's going to be fine. This is Oliver we're talking about." Digg whispered, and she nodded, whispering the quietest of yeah's anyone had ever heard. 

The line cut, and Felicity immediately went into overdrive. She picked up her handbag, slipping her shoes on. She pushed her phone into her bag, making sure she had her purse in case they needed ID for whatever reason, and her keys. 

Checking herself in the mirror to make sure she didn't look as if she had noticeably been crying and panicking, she walked into Eleanor's bedroom. She was sat on the floor making her princess dolls talk to each other, and Felicity felt her heart break into two. 

If Eleanor knew what had happened to Oliver, Felicity dreaded just the mere thought of what her reaction would be. Her and Oliver had formed such a tight bond, almost as tight as Eleanor and Felicity's, in such a short space of time. It was like he had never been gone from Eleanor's life at all. 

"Baby, I've got to pop out for a little while. I don't know how long it is until I'll be back, but Uncle Digg is gonna look after you." As if to second her words, the doorbell pinged. 

She bent down to press a kiss to Eleanor's forehead, before she turned away. Eleanor grabbed onto her hand, trying to pull Felicity back. "Mommy?" 

"Everything's fine, baby. I promise. I'll be back soon." She whispered, before Eleanor let her go and she rushed out of her bedroom, down the stairs. 

She let the door swing open, Digg standing there, his face full of love and concern. He wrapped his arms around Felicity. "He's gonna be fine, Felicity." He whispered. 

"I'm just surprised you aren't mad at me." Felicity mumbled. 

Diggle laughed. "You really thought I didn't know that you're a total pushover when it comes to Oliver? I've had my hunches. If it was Lyla, I probably would have done the same, so I can't be mad. Now, go. He needs you."

Felicity nodded, pressing a gentle kiss to Digg's cheek. "Thank you." 

* * *

 

When Felicity had gotten to the hospital, she didn't know what to do with herself. Her mind felt like it was in overdrive, and her heart was pounding so fast that she could hear it inside of every orifice. 

Her head was reeling, and her mouth was dry with fear. She finally located the reception desk, rushing over. "Hi, I'm-uh, I'm Felicity Smoak. My-" Felicity paused. She just realised she didn't know what to call him - so she opted for the easiest thing, the thing that rolled off of her tongue as if it was still the truth, "my boyfriend, Oliver Queen... They rang me and said he'd been in a car accident?"

"Oh, Ms. Smoak!" The receptionist said, a small smile of recognition on her face. "The doctor taking care of Mr. Queen has had to step out for personal reasons, but they have left me to explain the circumstances."

"Is he-is he okay?" Felicity stuttered, growing more and more concerned. 

The receptionist nodded. "He's fine. He's a little beat up; bruised ribs, sprained wrist. He also had dislocated his shoulder, and he has a concussion, but he is completely expected to make a full recovery."

Felicity let out a breath of relief, thanking all the Gods - even if she didn't believe in them. She could feel her eyes welling up with tears at the fact that he was fine. He was still there, and he hadn't left them in a more permanent manner. 

She would take him walking out on them over this any day.

"You can go and see him if you would like?" The receptionist asked, and Felicity nodded, desperately. 

"Please." She whispered, as the receptionist nodded, beckoning her forward. The room that Oliver was in was only along the hall from where they were stood, and she was so thankful - her legs felt like jelly, if she had to walk any further than that, she was sure she probably would have collapsed. 

The receptionist opened the door, and Oliver lifted his head lightly. "Mr. Queen? Your girlfriend is here to see you." 

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed - an action he immediately regretted as it caused him severe pain - and then Felicity walked in. She looked awful. Her hair was tangled, tear tracks and mascara stains were dotted all over her cheeks, and her hands were shaking, the exact way they had been the night they had kissed again. 

"Hey..." Felicity smiled, tiredly. She had forgotten how much crying and panicking could take it out of a person. She stepped over to him, taking the hand of the arm that wasn't in a sling, and Oliver couldn't help but smile. "You scared me so much, Oliver. You have no idea." 

"You told them I was your boyfriend." He laughed, weakly. 

Felicity shook her head, rolling her eyes. "You're led here in a hospital bed, after being in a _car accident_  and that's the first detail you focus on? You have some screwed up priorities Mr. Queen." 

Then, there was a silence, all except from the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Even though she knew he was fine, the monitor was keeping her mind at ease, reassuring her that he was there, he was with her. 

"I could be, you know?" Oliver finally broke the silence. 

Felicity feigned confusion; but she knew exactly what he meant, but she just had to be sure that his was what he meant. "Could be what?" 

"Be your boyfriend... Y'know... Again." Oliver said, sleepily. He was drugged up on pain meds, and that she knew. That was probably where this was coming from. 

Felicity smiled, a light, halfhearted smile. "I'm not sure you'd want to make decisions that you'll probably regret and view as a mistake tomorrow on high doses of pain medication, Oliver." 

Oliver frowned, shaking his head, wincing a little but ignoring the pain. "I wouldn't regret this... Felicity, you could never be a mistake to me." 

The silence entered the room again, but this time it only lasted a minute. 

"I love you, Felicity." He murmured. "Always have, always will."

Felicity stood there, her heart and her mind flabbergasted, registering what he had just said - she felt the same, she knew she did. She just didn't know what to say to get that across. 

"I love you, too." Felicity decided on, her mouth opening, she wanted to add to it. "I don't think I ever stopped."

She wanted to kiss him. He wanted her to kiss him. But they didn't. She just held his hand, and in that moment, that was enough for them. 


	8. Chapter 8

**_I don't want just anyone,_ **

**_Not anyone new,_ **

**_I wanna fall in love again with you._ **

 

Oliver now knew how Felicity felt when he had been waiting on her hand and foot - because she was doing the exact same thing for him now. It had been almost a full week since the accident happened, and she still wouldn't let him do anything besides cuddling her and Eleanor.

Part of him hated it, but another part of him loved it, because it meant that things were finally getting back to normal, that things were easing up and that all the tension, the fear, had drifted away and that they could get back to being themselves... _together._

When Oliver had left, the little things that both of them enjoyed - the midnight kisses, the hand holding, the looks, the playing with each other's fingers, the silent 'I love you's' - had all gone away with him, and when he came back, Felicity had felt as if there was no hope in getting them back.

But they were. All of it, it had all come flooding back; the love, and all the memories she had suppressed out of fear of it breaking her, the little moments she enjoyed the most... They had all come back full force, and she was the happiest she could ever remember herself being in the longest time - and she didn't want it to end.

 Oliver was determined that it wasn't going to end. He enjoyed seeing Felicity's smile, especially when he was the cause of it. The way her cheeks would flush lightly, the way her top lip would quiver before her entire face broke out into a grin, it all made his heart fill with so much more love for her than he could remember having before.

It was as if, somewhere in the last three years, the love for her had intensified to a point that when he was without her it felt as if he couldn't breathe without her, he couldn't stand to be away from her - and she felt it the exact same.

It was like, suddenly, their whole worlds had fallen pack into place, like their worlds were just jigsaw pieces waiting to be placed in the right order before it could fall into place for good, and now, they had finally gotten their. They had placed all the jigsaw pieces in the right place, at long last.

"Felicity..." Oliver trailed as she bustled around the house as if she was his housemaid instead of his girlfriend. It felt so strange, in the most blissful way, to be able to refer to her as his girlfriend once again. "Come and sit down with me and El?" He said in more of a question, his voice quiet.

Eleanor was propped up next to him, her head resting against his shoulder, a Disney movie playing quietly in the background as she slept. Apparently, it had been the first time she'd properly slept in days - ever since the accident with Oliver had happened and Felicity had had to break the news that he was hurt, she had refused to sleep in case something bad happened to her daddy.

Felicity held her finger up as if to signify one more moment, but Oliver shook his head. "You've done way too much, 'Lis. Come sit down. You need to take care of yourself too. You're wearing yourself thin."

She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Fine." She sighed, before plonking down on the seat next to Oliver, his arm wrapping around her shoulders. Apparently it had healed a lot quicker than they expected, now it was just a subtle ache, but Felicity still refused to let him cause any further damage to it, just in case.

Felicity had to admit, she was exhausted. Running around after a two and a half year old and looking after a grown man was hard work, and she had forgotten to take care of herself in the process. She was hardly sleeping, because Eleanor wasn't, and during the day she was making sure Oliver was eating to take his pain medication, and resting so that the rest of what needed to heal could.

Oliver had cottoned on to how tired she was, of course. He was no stranger to when she was forcing a smile or trying to make herself look better than she felt; and he could tell that was what she was doing now, because the second she sank into the sofa, a loud yawn erupted from her lips.

He smiled, a small, soft smile. "Hey... You should get some sleep, hon." He whispered, pressing a light kiss to the top of her head. "You must be exhausted."

Felicity began to shake her head, before giving in and nodding. "I am pretty tired... How did you do it? Look after me every day, day in, day out? It's been not even a week and I'm already exhausted."

Oliver laughed. "I liked looking after you. I got cuddles out of it."

"Then why aren't I getting cuddles out of looking after you?" Felicity pouted, looking up at Oliver with puppy dog eyes.

He shook his head, a deep chuckle rumbling from his chest. "You're getting cuddles now aren't you?" He teased, lightly, before pausing. "I was thinking... I've been holed up in this house for almost a week straight because _someone_ won't let me drive or go anywhere, so I thought, maybe you, me and Eleanor could go out for dinner tonight? Just the three of us. Somewhere nice."

Felicity nodded. "That sounds good. Amazing, actually. Where would we go? Somewhere with Italian food? Just not the place where we had our first date. We might get bombed again." She laughed, halfheartedly. "We can go there if you want, I was only joking - I actually love that restaurant, although, to be truthful, I wouldn't care if we just went to Big Belly Burger - as long as I'm with my two favourite people, then I'm good."

"So you're taking Digg instead of me?" Oliver pouted.

Felicity rolled her eyes, smacking his chest lightly. "Shut up you."

________________

Oliver had sent Eleanor and Felicity home, agreeing that three hours later, he would come and pick them up (much to Felicity's protest of him driving. He assured her that he was fine, and the doctor had given him the all clear to drive again). It was now two and a half hours since, and he was starting to feel nervous.

It wasn't as if it was the first time they had gone out together, they had been to a lot of places together, but no where that would be deemed as _nice._ Somewhere that someone would be seen out on a date; and he wasn't just with anyone. He was with the people he loved the most, his daughter and his girlfriend.

Felicity was nervous too. This was the first proper date she had been on in a long, long time - unsurprisingly, not very many people wanted to date a first-time mother to a little girl, no matter how unbearably cute she was - and even though it wasn't with just some random guy, it was with Oliver, _her_ Oliver, she still felt nervous.

In the most amazing way possible, but still. Nervous.

She was wearing red. Of all things, she was wearing red. The conversation they had had on their first date, about the color of her pen, it still stuck with her whenever she wore the color, and so she was wearing it again tonight - and so was Eleanor.

She glanced over at the clock, bending down to help Eleanor, who was just a bouncing ball of energy and excitement at going out with her daddy and staying up past her bedtime, tie up her shoelaces.

Then there was the ringing of the doorbell, and Felicity let out a nervous, shaky breath, holding onto Eleanor's hand as she opened the door.

Oliver stood there, holding two bunches of flowers, dressed up in a suit. Felicity smiled, shaking her head. He was still ever the charmer.

"You two look absolutely stunning." He smiled widely, bending down to hand Eleanor one of the bunches of flowers. "This is for you, my little lady."

Eleanor grinned. "Flowers! Thank you, daddy."

He stood up straight, handing the bunch of _red_ roses to Felicity. "You remembered our color." He beamed.

Felicity laughed. "We have a color? Most normal couples have a song, but we have a color."

Oliver grinned, watching as Felicity put her and Eleanor's flowers on the bookcase, quietly making a note to herself (so quiet that if he hadn't been listening so intently he never would have heard it) to put them in water when she got back, and not forget like the last time someone had brought her flowers.

"When have we ever been a normal couple?" He asked, winking. Felicity nodded in agreeance, a soft laugh. "Come on then, we're going to miss our reservation at this rate."

"Reservation? Where are we going, it sounds fancy." Felicity teased. "I thought we were just going to Big Belly Burger."

Oliver rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "We're going to a place that is the farthest thing from being Big Belly Burger, Ms. Smoak."

__________________

When they reached the restaurant, Felicity had literally been left gobsmacked. Her jaw was wide open, and her eyes were so wide she could have sworn they nearly popped out of her head.

The restaurant was empty, he had bought out all the tables so that it could be just them, and there was a vast array of fairy lights dangling around the room, candles lit with a scattering of red rose petals arranged next to the candle on every table. It was breathtaking.

"Oliver... This is too much." She sighed, as Eleanor gasped at the scenery herself, her hand getting tighter on Felicity's.

Oliver shook his head. "Nothing is too much when it comes to you two. Besides, this is our first proper outing together... I wanted it to be special. I have a lot of bad stuff and three years to make up for, may I remind you."

Felicity smiled, tears filling her eyes, as she turned and pressed a light kiss to his lips. "Thank you... I love you." She whispered against his lips, laughing as she heard Eleanor feign a gagging noise in the background.

Felicity turned around picking up the little girl, bringing Eleanor in between her and Oliver, the largest smile she had ever had splaying across her face. "How did we get so lucky, El?"

Eleanor shrugged.

Oliver's smile grew wider by the second. "No, the real question is, how did _I_ get so lucky. I don't deserve either of you. You two are the best thing that ever happened to me, you realise that, don't you?"

Eleanor giggled. "Daddy... I love you."

"I love you too, petal." He murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Now, you two, can you do me a favor?"

"Should've known there'd be a catch to all this niceness, Queen." Felicity teased, nudging him in the side lightly.

Oliver smirked, before his face became serious again. "Would you stay with me tonight?"

"Well, I think the restaurant closes at 9, so..." Felicity laughed, her cheeks flushing.

Oliver cocked his head to the side, giving Felicity an 'are you serious' look. "You know what I mean."

"Like a sleepover?" Eleanor grinned, as Oliver nodded, clasping her hands together, turning to face Felicity, her smile growing. "Please can we, mommy? Please?"

"I would be honored to stay the night with you, Mr. Queen." Felicity grinned, before she placed a hand over Eleanor's eyes and pressed a kiss to his mouth.

Felicity never did get round to putting those flowers in water.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AH. The second to last chapter (before the epilogue). I can't believe this story is almost over!   
> I really hope you guys liked this chapter, I thought that it was about time they went on their first date, and I wanted it to be cheesy because I like cheesy things.   
> See you guys tomorrow, as usual thank you so much for reading.   
> Phee x


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness... This is it. The beginning of the end (of the story). It's hard to believe that there's only the epilogue left to post and then that's it. It'll be done. I have loved writing this story so much, it has been so much fun and such a thrilling thing for me to do - writing is a big deal to me.   
> I truly hope you like this chapter as much as I liked writing it, I spent hours wondering what I should write and how to write it out the way I wanted, so I truly hope you guys like the way it turned out.   
> Phee x

 

**_I will never stop choosing you,_ **

**_I will never get used to you._ **

****

Oliver woke up the next morning to the sound of quiet sobs. He instantly turned to Felicity, but she was fast asleep – and she had been since they had gotten in that night, she was so exhausted from the week beforehand.

 Instead, Eleanor was huddled in the corner of the bedroom, her knees pressed to her chest, tears streaking down her cheeks as she rocked back and forth.

Oliver slid out of bed carefully and quietly, so as not to wake Felicity up, and made his way over to his little girl. “El, baby?” He whispered, sitting down gently on the floor in front of her, as she flopped into his arms, quiet sobs making her entire body. “Hey, what happened?”

“I had a nightmare.” She said, her voice quiet. “It was scary.”

Oliver smiled, a small, loving smile. “That’s why they’re called nightmares, baby…” He stroked her hair off of her face, the tears still coming. “Would you like to know something?”

Eleanor nodded against his chest.

“I used to get nightmares all the time, too. Every night. Awful ones, the kind that would make me afraid to sleep… But then I found your mommy. She made them go away.” He smiled, pressing a kiss to her head, as she whimpered.

“Mommy made them go?” She repeated, as if she was confused.

Oliver nodded. “Yeah, yeah she did. It was like she made all the bad things leave me alone and left me with the good things. Like her. She’s one of the good things, and she always has been.”

“Mommy _is_ a good thing.” She smiled, pulling away from Oliver’s chest, the tears finally having stopped.

Oliver bit down on his lip. “Can I let you in on a secret?” He asked, as she nodded her chest excitedly, her hair bouncing up and down. “You have to promise to keep it though. Pinkie promise?” He held out his pinkie, and she took it, wrapping her own around it.

“I’m going to ask your mommy to marry me.” He murmured. “Would you be okay with that?”

Eleanor’s eyes widened. “Does that mean we’ll be a real family?”

“Yeah, yeah, it does. We’ll be a real family forever.”

A cheesy grin broke out on Eleanor’s lips. “Forever and ever?”

“Forever and ever.” Oliver agreed.

The next week with Felicity was simultaneously one of the best and one of the hardest: it was the best because she was staying with him almost every other night, and they went out twice - once was even by themselves – hardest because he was trying to work out his proposal plan with her by his side everywhere he went. But tonight was the night. He was going to propose _tonight._

Donna and Quentin had just flown back into town after taking a holiday to somewhere foreign, Felicity hadn’t given Oliver the specifics, but they had been fully informed of what Oliver had planned tonight.

The reunion between Donna and Oliver had been bittersweet, he could tell she was still mad at him for what he had done to Felicity and he honestly couldn’t blame her – but she was completely accepting of what he wanted to do, and had given him her permission.

The next person he told about his plan was Diggle and Lyla, two nights before the big plan was supposed to be carried out, and they both agreed to get Felicity out of the house for long enough that he could do what he wanted to do for her.

So here he was. He had just waved goodbye to Felicity and Eleanor as they got into Diggle and Lyla’s car, and he didn’t know where to start. He had written what he wanted to say down on paper, and gone over it in his head and in front of the mirror so many times but none of it felt right.

None of it felt apt as to how he felt about her, and why he loved her, and why he loves her the way that he does. None of it feels right as to how to describe the way he makes her feel inside and the way she makes everything better, the way she makes him happier than he has ever been in his entire life. Nothing feels right because everything she’d done and how she’d made him feel was too much to put into words.

He fumbled around in his pocket, looking for the ring, a small sigh escaping his lips. He had bought a new one – the old one only harboured bad memories for the both of them now – and had it specially engraved.

It had green emeralds dotting inside the diamond, and Oliver had had ‘ _forever_ ’ engraved on the inside. His finger ran over the soft engravings, before he placed it back in the box, snapping the box shut before he started to work on his plan, his nerves growing stronger with every single passing second.

This was what he had always wanted, and he wasn’t going to screw it up this time – and that was what made him so nervous.

When Diggle and Lyla’s car pulled up outside of Oliver’s house, Felicity’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion – all the lights were off. Surely he hadn’t gone out? Felicity had told him what time her and Eleanor would be back (with the promise that Digg and Lyla could stop for a cup of coffee).

“Maybe he’s gone to sleep early?” Digg asked, feigning confusion as he pulled open the car door, stepping out onto the gravel. “Don’t worry, we can wake him up when we go inside.” He laughed.

Felicity smiled, lightly shaking Eleanor who had fallen asleep on the way home. Her eyes widened as soon as they opened, a smile breaking out onto her face. “Hey, sleeping beauty. We’re at daddy’s.”

Eleanor clapped her hands, yawning. “Yay.” She said, tiredly.

Helping Eleanor out of the car, noticed the fairy lights flashing around the garden – they most definitely hadn’t been there when she left.

What the hell had Oliver been up too?

Felicity walked forward into the house, Digg, Lyla and Eleanor following suit. Felicity looked up as more fairy lights blinked on as soon as she opened the door, her eyes glancing up as she saw a note of an arrow drawn, pointing towards the dining area with “WALK FORWARD” written in bold writing.

Felicity’s confusion growing, she did as the note asked, stepping forward into the kitchen, another set of fairy lights blinking on, and another not being revealed – “A LITTLE BIT MORE” – and so she obliged, yet again.

She stepped forward into the living area, more fairy lights blinking, and then she realised what was happening, then she realised what Oliver was doing – why he had been so unbearably desperate to get her out of the house, and why all the lights were turned off. She knew, and tears were immediately welling up in her eyes almost instantly.

And then he stepped out of their bedroom, dressed in a suit, cleanly shaven, his hair brushed, and one hand behind his back.

“What are you doing?” Felicity laughed, tears welling up in her eyes even quicker, but he didn’t reply, just moved his hand from behind his back, handing her a single red rose. “Oliver?”

He, once again, didn’t reply, and just stood there, his eyes boring into her own tear filled ones, and that alone was enough to send shivers running up and down her spine, her breath catching in her throat.

“I saw you once before we met… I had come back to Starling, I was doing work for Amanda Waller, and I had to go into Walter’s office at Queen Consolidated, and you walked in. I hid, but something about you kept me there. You called me cute.”

Felicity blushed. “You heard-“

Oliver cut her off, a small smile forming on his lips. “Ever since that day, you were all I could think about. You were running through my mind almost every day, and I would dream about you, even on the island. I didn’t even know your name, but I would still come up with scenarios that we could be together, and those were the things that got me through some of the worst moments on the island.”

“And then when I came back, when I told you some of the worst excuses in the world, and you still trusted me – I knew that I could trust you. And somewhere, between that, I fell in love with you. You put up with my nonsense, you hold my hand when times get rough, and you chase all the demons away, Felicity. Every single one of them, you made them go away.”

“And I know I’ve messed up, more than once, more times than I deserve forgiveness for, but… I love you, Felicity. More than I have loved anyone or anything in my whole entire life. You make every day brighter, you make every laugh louder and every smile bigger. You’ve changed my life.”

Oliver bent down on one knee, a small chuckle echoing through the room as everyone stood there in silence, the only sound was Felicity sniffling as the tears snaked their way down her cheeks.

“You know what they say… Third time’s a charm.” He laughed. “Felicity Smoak… I promise to love you, and hold your hand, and make you the happiest person in the whole world. I promise to take care of you, and to never hurt you ever again. You’re the first person I want to see when I wake up, and the last person I want to see when I close my eyes… I want it all with you. Forever.”

“Will you marry me?” He asked, pulling the ring box out of his jacket, flipping it open.

Felicity started crying harder, nodding as he stood up, pressing his lips against hers. “Don’t cry.” He whispered against her lips, as she nodded, pulling him closer, not ever wanting this kiss, this entire moment, to end, ever. “I’m taking this as a yes, you know.” He murmured.

Felicity shook her head, laughing. “Of course it’s a yes. I’d marry you a thousand times if it meant getting our happy ending.”

“We do deserve a happy ending, don’t we?” He smiled.

Felicity sighed, as he put the ring on her finger, more tears making their way down her cheeks. “You are my happy ending.”

“And you’re mine.”

 

 

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

 

**_Just close your eyes a while,_ **

**_I’ll put my arms around you_ **

**_And make you unbreakable._ **

****

****

Three months into their married life, and nine months into living with each other, Felicity had started acting strange. She was distant, almost always tired, she would even snap at him for saying the simplest thing that wasn’t even meant to be taken offensively. To say Oliver was worried was an understatement.

The cause that Oliver had put it down to was the fact that Eleanor was now three years and four months old, and she had started pre-kindergarten, and Felicity was simply taking it harder than most parents because she had spent every waking moment of the past three years with her, and now she was spending her days in the care of someone else, learning and making friends.

But that wasn’t it whatsoever.

When Oliver came back from work - he was now a manager of a worldwide million-dollar franchise, apparently him having previously been a CEO of a big company would prove to work in his favour in the future – he was not-so-welcomed to the sound of muffled tears coming from upstairs.

The cries were so loud that he could hear them from downstairs, as he set his briefcase down, shutting the door quietly. The cries became quieter as he started up the stairs – she hadn’t intended to be heard.

“Felicity, honey?” He called, stepping into their bedroom. She wasn’t there, but she was hunched over the toilet, her hair tied into a loose ponytail cascading curls down her back, sobs wracking her body. He rushed over to her, getting down onto his knees as she heaved.

He rubbed her back gently, trying his best to soothe her and calm her down: the more she cried, the worse the heaving would become. “Hey, hey, look at me… What’s going on?”

Felicity didn’t answer, just stared into the toilet bowl, more tears snaking down her cheeks as she wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her sweatshirt (which was actually Oliver’s sweatshirt, but he didn’t mind). “Why do they call it morning sickness if it happens at all hours of the day?” She whispered, so quiet it was barely audible. But he heard her. He always heard her.

Oliver’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Morning sickness? But isn’t that – _oh_.” Oliver paused, and Felicity started crying even harder, moving away from the toilet, pressing her back against the cold wall, revelling in the coldness, she had forgotten how much throwing up could make you hot.

“Yeah… _Oh._ ” Felicity sighed, the tears finally coming to a stand-still. “I’m pregnant.” She whispered.

Oliver’s face contorted into a smile, tears welling up in his eyes. “You’re pregnant.” He echoed her words, his smile growing wider. “You’re pregnant. We’re pregnant.” He repeated, his smile the size of an entire universe. “This is a good thing, right? Why are you crying?” Oliver murmured, softly, his thumb gently brushing away more tears that were straying from her eyes.

“I don’t know. I mean – _of course_ it’s a good thing, I’ve always wanted more than just one kid – not that having Eleanor isn’t enough for me, it totally is, but… I’m just scared. Because…”

“Because of what I did?” Oliver finished.

She nodded, weakly. “I just don’t think I could handle doing it alone again.”

“You’re my wife, Felicity. And I promise you, you’re not doing it alone anymore.” He murmured, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, before pressing his lips to her mouth. “You’re pregnant.” He said against her lips, another wide smile breaking out over his face, lighting it up.

Felicity nodded, for the first time since she found out, allowing herself to smile. “Yeah, I am.”

“Just one question…” Oliver started, as Felicity’s eyes bored into his, waiting for the question to be elaborated on. “How are we going to tell Eleanor?”

 

 

Felicity was now just over the three month check point, and despite the fact that she couldn’t fit into any of her clothes (although she wasn’t showing quite yet – but it was noticeable that she had put on some weight), nobody had cottoned onto what had happened or what was going on inside of Felicity’s body, and her and Oliver both planned on keeping it that way until they found out if everything was okay.

Which they would find out any second now. To say either of them were nervous was a complete understatement – Although Felicity had done this before, she was still irrationally nervous that something was wrong, and Oliver was both nervous and excited to see his baby for the first time on a screen.

The ultrasound technician ran the sensor over Felicity’s stomach, Oliver’s hand wrapped around hers – he was visibly shaking. Felicity couldn’t help but smile at how unbelievably nervous he was, she understood that this was the first time he had done anything like this, but she didn’t expect him to be _this_ terrified.

And then the baby’s heartbeat filled the room, and Oliver’s eyes instantly welled up with tears, his breath catching in his throat, stopping him from speaking. The technician turned the screen so that they could both see it. “That,” he paused, pointing to the dot on the screen, “is your baby. Right now, it’s around the size of a lemon.”

“A peapod.” Oliver echoed, wiping his tears away with his free hand. “Felicity,” he whispered, staring down at the blonde. “That’s our baby. We made that.”

Felicity’s own eyes welled up with tears at the adoration in his voice for a human that he had yet to touch. “Yeah, yeah… We did.”

“From the looks of things… You should be due around the 19th of June.” The doctor smiled at the two of them sweetly.

Oliver’s eyes were like puppy dogs, sweet and soft. “So, everything’s fine? It all looks healthy?”

“Perfectly healthy.” The doctor replied.

Felicity sat up, rolling her top back down over her stomach. “Could we please have some pictures? We’re going to have to tell our family soon, now that we know everything’s good with our little lemon.”

The doctor stifled a laugh. “Yes, of course. Just wait here a minute, I’ll go and get them for you.”

 

Felicity was nearing her sixteenth week (their pea had now graduated to being an avocado) before her and Oliver had even thought about telling anyone. Her stomach had now started to form into a little bump, and Oliver had gotten into the swing of pressing little kisses to it every couple of hours, as if he was reminding himself that it was there and this was real.

So, now, they were sat at the dinner table – Felicity, Oliver, Eleanor, Digg, Lyla, Donna and Quentin – the silence as they devoured their meal both enlightening and awkward.

Felicity coughed, nudging Oliver lightly, giving him a small smile of encouragement. Oliver let out a breath that he had obviously been holding in for some time, standing up, and dragging Felicity up with him. “Me and Felicity have something to tell you guys.” He began, nervously twiddling his thumb and forefinger.

“I’m- _we’re_ -“ Felicity corrected herself, “we’re going to have another baby, another little Eleanor.”

Eleanor’s eyes widened, her hands clasping excitedly. “Another little me?” She grinned, clapping, the excitement from the little girl palpable. “Does this mean I’ll have someone my age to play with?”

“You’re going to be a little bit older, but yeah, baby, it does. It means you’ll have someone to play with, and look after, and cuddle and teach her all the ways of your wisdom.” Felicity grinned. “Which, of course, you caught from me.”

Oliver looked around the room at the four other people who were completely silent, their mouths still shovelled with food. “Guys? We expected some sort of reaction.”

“It’s really soon.” Donna commented. “I mean, it’s great news, but it’s really soon into your marriage to have been trying for a baby, isn’t it?”

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut tightly, breathing in and out sharply. “Mom, we weren’t trying… It just happens. You know that. And I don’t care how soon it is, I’m _happy._ I’m not doing this alone like I had to before.”

“And she’s not going to have too.” Oliver added, his hand squeezing hers tightly. “I’m one hundred percent, fully ready to be a father a second time round. But I want to do it the right way this time.”

Diggle smiled, standing up and stepping over to Oliver, wrapping his arms around him. “Congratulations, man. Congratulations both of you. Do you have pictures?” He smiled, as Oliver dug his picture out of his wallet, showing it to Diggle, before showing it to the rest of the room.

Donna took it from his hands, her breath catching in her throat. “That’s grandbaby number two. Oh my goodness. I look way too young to be a grandmother a second time round, though.”

Felicity laughed, as Quentin smiled at her. “Congratulations, my love. You deserve this.”

“I’m going to have a baby!” Eleanor squealed. “Best early birthday present ever.”

 

 

At 22 weeks, there was absolutely no denying that Felicity was pregnant anymore. She was told that the baby was now the size of a papaya, and she could feel it kicking her whenever she tried to get comfortable. Oliver revelled at the sight and the feeling, and she swore every time he felt it he looked as though he was going to cry.

Just last week, they had found out that they were having a little boy, although they were determined to keep it a secret from everyone else (by saying that they had decided to keep it a secret themselves), much to everyone else’s disappointment, especially Eleanor’s.

It was now almost 1am, and Felicity and Oliver were both awake because when baby kept Felicity awake, Felicity would keep Oliver awake too. It was a vicious cycle, that none of them really minded whatsoever.

Oliver was bent down, his head next to her belly, pressing soft little kisses to the curvature of it, one hand caressing it, the other holding onto Felicity’s. “I can’t wait to meet you.” Oliver whispered. “It’s going to be one of the best days of my life. The first being marrying your mommy. You’re going to love her so much; you know?”

Felicity could feel the tears welling in her eyes, her heart skipping a beat as he spoke to their unborn baby about the reasons why he was going to love “his mommy”, his lips still peppering her stomach with kisses in between each sentence.

Felicity stifled a yawn. “I think I’m getting sleepy enough to sleep, baby.” She whispered to Oliver, as she turned onto her side, so that she was facing him. He moved away from her stomach, about to turn onto his side, before she said. “But, that doesn’t mean you can’t stop talking to him if you want…”

Oliver grinned, nodding, flipping onto his other side, his hand resting on her bump again, and he began to whisper sweet nothings to the baby. He was so whipped.

 

 

But of course, nothing was ever just chocolate and roses for Oliver and Felicity, was it? Especially not in this case, because at only 29 weeks, Felicity went into labour.

She had felt generally like crap for the last forty-eight hours, she was even more exhausted than usual, and she had the world’s worst headache. Oliver had picked up on how bad she was feeling, because he was waiting on her hand and foot again – foot rubs, blankets, hot water bottles, the whole lot.

But it wasn’t until the middle of the night on the second day, that the pain had started. It started out as just a dull ache, something she thought nothing of, barely noticeable, and it had started in the afternoon. But then it got unbearable.

Oliver was sound asleep next to her when her water had broken, eleven weeks too early. Felicity was in a panicking frenzy, and she couldn’t calm herself, even as she woke Oliver up.

Oliver could see how much she was panicking, how terrified she truly was, and so he had to be as calm and collected as he possibly could be. “Okay, we’ve had the bag packed for weeks in case of something like this, right?” Felicity nodded, rubbing her hand nervously over her stomach.

“Can you do me a favour, please?” He asked, Felicity, once again, nodding in reply. “I need you to try and stay calm. If not for me or you, for our little boy. I’m going to call the hospital, okay? Okay.” He whispered, as she nodded in response, trying to calm down her breathing. And then he disappeared.

 

 

They had gotten to the hospital two hours ago, and it had turned out, that Felicity had been fighting an infection, and that was what had caused Felicity to go into labour early.

She had been so weak, and so tired when they had rushed her into the hospital at 3am, that the doctors had insisted on emergency C-section, and despite that being exactly what she didn’t want, she felt too weak to argue, and Oliver had been left out in the hallway.

Oliver was terrified. He had left Eleanor at home with Quentin and Donna, but the one person he needed more than anything right now, was _Thea._ She always knew what to say in these sort of situations, and he could only imagine how ecstatic she would be to be an aunt twice over.

Tears rolled down his cheeks, as he pushed his head in his hands, only to bring his head up moments later at the sound of footsteps in front of him.

“Mr. Queen?” The doctor smiled, his hands clasped together. Oliver nodded, exhausted. “Your wife is out of recovery. She’s very tired, but she’s awake and she’s talking. She’s been asking for you.”

Oliver smiled tiredly, more tears falling from his eyes as he stood up, following the doctor as he led him to where Felicity would be waiting for him. “And my son?”

“He’s as healthy as he could be for a baby born so prematurely. He’s in NICU, we’re just taking every precaution necessary to keep him healthy.” The doctor smiled, clapping him on the back. “You did good, getting them both here as quickly as you did. Any longer and the outcome could have been very different.”

When Oliver stepped into the hospital room, Felicity smiling at him, but her eyes were sad and scared, all he could do was break down in a flood of tears.

“Hey, hey, Oliver.” She cooed, reaching out to him as he stepped over to her, bending down onto both of his knees, his head resting on her chest as she stroked his hair. “I’m fine. We’re both fine, we’re both going to be fine.”

“But what if you hadn’t had been? What if I had waited too long and… I’d have lost you both?” More tears streaked down his cheeks.

“You’re not going to lose either of us. Ever. We’re here. You’re stuck with us. For better and for worse, till death do us part, remember?”

Oliver smiled, sadly. “I remember.”

 

It was a five days before they were able to see their son outside of the NICU, where they had been all but too terrified to step inside, surrounded by sick and dying babies, they couldn’t stand the fact that _their_ baby was there.

But the doctors had finally deemed their little guy healthy enough to move out from NICU, and into Felicity and Oliver’s arms. And they had both wept as they held him for hours at a time, swapping only when the other got too tired.

Oliver couldn’t get enough of kissing his head, playing with his tiny fingers, and telling him how much he loved him.

“We still haven’t given him a name.” Felicity whispered, as she stroked the sleeping baby’s head as he slept in her arms. “Have you got any ideas? I’m sure I had them but… With everything that happened, I forgot.”

“I have, actually. I hadn’t given it much thought until I had two hours alone in the waiting room, it was the only way of distracting myself.” Oliver murmured. “I was thinking Cayden… Cayden Thomas.”

“Thomas, as in…”

Oliver nodded. “Tommy.”

“Why Cayden?” She whispered, looking down at their son, smiling as she realised how much he _did_ look like a Cayden.

“Because it means fighter… And he is a fighter. Just like his mommy.”

Felicity smiled, shaking her head. “He definitely got his fighting spirit from his daddy.”

“That’s something we’ll just have to agree to disagree on.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Fine.”

“I’d spend forever agreeing to disagreeing with you on things if it meant spending forever with you, you know?” He whispered, as he pressed a kiss to Felicity’s head.

“Yeah.” She murmured. “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it. It's done. It's over. I'm so happy and excited that, hey, I managed to finish a fic(!!!!) but I'm also so sad because it's over. I have had the most amazing time writing this for you guys, and an even better time reading how much you guys have loved it, and reading the reviews on each chapter have made me smile so much every morning! I truly cannot thank you enough, you brought this story to life too, not just me, and I am eternally grateful for all the kudos', the reviews and just for reading. It truly means the world to me.   
> I hope that I can be back soon with something else for you guys, and I truly hope you guys enjoyed this epilogue. Also, a humongous thanks to my petal Meg, who has just been an angel putting up with me babbling about what do I do or not do almost every night, I'd be lost without her!   
> Thank you, once again, everyone for everything you've done.   
> Bye for now!  
> Phee x


End file.
